Neverending Pain: A Shadow the Hedgehog Story
by Angelfyre-ShadowLover
Summary: My first fanfiction, this is about Shadow the Hedgehog, upon the space colony ARK, trying to escape alive with Maria. This describes the emotional torment and hurt of Shadow as he recollects what happened.


A Different Kind of Hero  
  
Alarms sounding, lights blaring....It was all a blur, racing away from the chasing G.U.N. soldiers. "Sh..Shadow," Maria said, panting, as we turned around a corridor. "We can't hold on much longer. How can we outrun them?" Both of us were out of breath, but we kept on running. Corridor after corridor, each appearing more monotonous. ...If that were possible. "Cant...go.." Maria, looking dead serious, stared me in the eye, her chest raising and lowering rapidly,  
her plain blue dress tattered and dirty. "Come on," I said simply, pulling her into an empty room around the corner. Once inside, locked the door and we rapidly looked for somewhere to hide, and decided on a closet.  
"Will we make it out alive?" Maria asked, looking into my ruby red eyes. "I......don't know." I said, then quickly perked up my ears, frenzied footsteps audible outside the door. "No...He's not as dangerous as you think he is! Shadow is a harmless experiment! That whole "Ultimate Life Form is just a rumor! Please! No....no!" Came someone's voice, pleading for Shadow's life. Shadow didn't know what to think of this...The 16-year-old black and red anthropomorphic hedgehog was confused. All he was was an 'experiment' created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik. That was probably the Prof. outside anyway. All he had was Maria, his best friend. She and Shadow had never done anything wrong! I looked worriedly into Maria's frightened eyes. "Was this all...my fault??" I questioned, mentally slapping myself for dragging Maria into this. "I don't know what I did, but was my creation bad? Was I never to be put on this Earth,..or rather, next to it?" Maria put her face in her hands. She made a small, soft noise, perhaps crying. I didn't know much about comforting people. According to the G.U.N. agents, I was made to 'destroy'. Whatever I was made to do, I was awkward with human emotions and social customs. After all, I was a giant hedgehog. What was I to do? I finally delved into my mind to look for accepted social graces. I carefully embraced her in a hug. I hoped this was the right move.  
"You did nothing wrong, Shadow. It's just that...Grandfather might have done something bad. You are..illegal." Maria was the Prof.'s granddaughter, sweet and innocent, except having a crippling disease; my best friend since as far back as I can remember. Suddenly, a loud, crashing noise was heard, and without even thinking, more fear was struck into our hearts as we realized the door had been knocked down. Apparently, someone had a walkie-talkie, as there was static. "Alpha Thunder speaking, just knocked down a locked door, Project Shadow suspected to be hiding in this room, along with a human girl, the Proffesors' granddaughter probably. Permit to search room?" The muffled voice said through the thin walls of the closet.  
"Well OF COURSE you can search! You don't need a permit to search! This thing is ILLEGAL here, you imbecile! Search the room thuroughly, and have someone guard the door. You do not want then to escape AGAIN!" came the angered reply.  
".Y-Yes, s-sir!" Came the frenzied return of the soldier. So they were gonna search the room, eh? Well, we weren't going down without a fight! Or at least I wasn't, anyway. I braced myself for the door open, and Maria's breathing quickened.  
"Shh, Maria!" I whispered hurriedly. "You're gonna blow our-"  
I was interuptted by a loud "Aha!" from the outside..well, now it was the inside, as the soldier had already broken down the closet door and found us. "RUN, Maria!" I shouted, and started attacking the heavily armored, dangerous G.U.N. soldier. Maria, giving me a quick look, that was only for a second, but for me, it lasted in my mind forever. It was the kind of look that said, "If anything happens to either of us, we'll still be in the other's heart forever.", something that I doubt today.  
As soon as Maria was outside, and her footsteps faded away, I came back to Earth, and found that the enemies' cannon was pointed straight at me. I ducked, and sidekicked to trip him. Quicker than lightning, I was on top of him. Before realizing what I was doing, my arm was drawing back for the final blow. "Pl...please don't hurt me!" said the now-pathetic, squirming coward below me.  
"Pathetic human, you aren't even worth my time to kill," I said, picking him up and throwing him to the side. "Besides, I have other things to do." Without giving him another glance, I stormed out the door, using my super-speedy light shoes to blast me down the long,  
metallic hallways. I hoped that nothing would happen to her. I soon came to a corner leading to a dead end, and heard wailing. Curiously, I peeked around, and there was Maria, cornered by a G.U.N. soldier, holding a gun to her chest.  
"Look, little girl, just tell me where the Ultimate Life Form is, and you won't get hurt." He said, persuading her to tell where my location was - right behind him! "I won't tell you anything! Shadow's my friend, and I would rather die than hurt him!" She shouted defiantly. The soldier got closer.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you.." He whispered dangerously,  
so close that he was breathing on her neck. I started to get scared. I didn't want to hurt anyone more then I needed to, but Maria might get hurt. I braced myself, ready to attack, just in case.  
"There he is!" Came shouts from behind. I wasn't as powerful then as I am now, so the dozens of G.U.N. soldiers overwhelmed me. I only managed to take out three, before they had me. They held a gun to my head, and I prepared for the worst. "Things have changed, girl."  
The first soldier said. "Now, you don't need to tell us anything.  
we can kill him right here and now."  
"B-B-But...he didn't do anything wrong! You're bad people! Why do you hurt Shadow so? Isn't he innocent? It's my grandaddy who created him, and even if Shadow is the 'Ultimate Life Form', he wouldn't volintarily hurt a fly! He's the sweetest hedgehog you could know!"  
Maria protested, making clear her stand on this. Then she moved in front of me. "If you're gonna kill him, then you have to get through me first!" She proclaimed, standing straight in front of a big shotgun.  
Although brave, she began crying anew, because even though she would die to protect me, she didn't really WANT to die.  
All the soldiers looked at each other nervously. The first one just readied his gun.  
"But sir!" Proclaimed one. "I-Isn't it against the law to hurt her? Besides, she's just a child! There is nothing she did wrong!" He said, angry at the general.  
"Shut up!" the general barked. "Just..Shut up! We don't have to report any of this back to HQ, we can just report her under.....  
'casualties'. I struggled as hard as I could, but couldn't release myself from their firm grip. "Leave her alone!" I yelled. "Just kill me, and get it over with! She didn't do anything! I'm the one you're after, NOT HER!!"  
I yelled, stating some things that the other soldier said already.  
"You can't do anything. You're weak and defenseless. Nothing you can do to save your little 'girlfriend'." The general mocked.  
Now, this made me REALLY MAD. My adrenaline starting flowing, and I was shaking uncontrollably.  
"YOU HURT HER, AND YOU'RE DEAD MEAT." I said, dead serious,  
looking him in the eyes. I wanted to kill him right then and there,  
for just THINKING of hurting Maria....the only thing I had, was her friendship. Then I made what I think is my most fatal error of my life.  
I suddenly broke free of my grip, dodged a bullet, and knocked the other soldiers out. I raced towards the general, but before I could do anything......BOOM. Towards Maria. He.......shot her. The one I love. The only one. My....Life. THAT &&ING IDIOT SHOT HER. In the chest. I help her? Instinctly, from my heart, I grabbed him. "You........should never have done that....Goodbye." I whispered into his ear. I killed him. I slit his throat with a knife, cleanly across his neck. All the blood in his neck was spewing out. I killed him. With my own hands. MY OWN FRIKKIN HANDS. Because.  
I wanted to. For what he did to Maria. I then rushed over to Maria,  
still alive..thank God. I picked her up. She was bleeding badly.  
Running towards the infirmary, Maria in my arms...It felt as if...there was no hope..If only I had..not done that......I'M STUPID. I hurt her. With one fluid movement, I HURT MARIA. Unintentionally, yes, but still...I hurt her. Thinking about how this was all my fault, I wanted to now hurt myself. But I didn't have time for that then....I had to try and save Maria. Before I realized it, tears were blurring my vision. All the lights were streaking, every thought, blocked out. The only thing I focused on.  
was Maria. She lost more blood since then. 'Shit,' I thought. I ran inside the infirmary, and searched for bandages. They were ALL OUT. Panicking, I noticed that the infirmary was the only place with bandages on the whole space colony. I just stared at Maria, my world, not thinking of anything else. Then suddenly I heard gunshots. 'Damn, more soldiers.' I thought. Getting angrier by the minute, I shot them death glares and ran more and more. Then they kept shooting. Suddenly,  
a searing pain suddenly shot through my arm, and I couldn't hold Maria.  
I was grazed in the arm by a speeding bullet. "Maria.." I whispered.  
"Y..es?" she weakly answered.  
"Can you walk?" I continued, still running.  
"Yes, I think." I gently set her down, and then punched the nearest soldier in the head, more than knocking them out. The persistent other recieved a supersonic kick to the chest, knocking him hard against the wall. "Find them before they escape!" Came more shouts. Both of us were out of breath, but we were almost to the door of the control room. I noticed she was weaker. Once inside, I barred the door, so that it would take a while for G.U.N. to get in. Then I stared worriedly at Maria, her life force draining away right before my eyes. "Maria, come with me to Earth. You know how the Prof. spoke about it? When we were little kids, he told us stories around the fireplace, and how we looked out from the portholes; at the perfect blue sphere. So perfect, so with me, Maria. Let us go away from here." I announced, holding my hand out. Maria just stood there.  
"I...don't think...I can make it.." Maria wheezed, starting to fall down. I caught her in my arms.  
"Maria! It doesn't have to be this way..." I urged. Just then,  
the door was being kicked down. Maria, stumbling, reached the button that sealed a tube; used for sending things down to Earth. I happened to be standing right by it. Suddenly, the thick glass surrounded me,  
and I pounded to be let out. What was she doing?! "Shadow, I beg of you...please do it for me" Maria started.  
"Maria!" I shouted in disbelief, pounding more on the icy surface.  
"For all the people...on that planet...Give them a chance to br happy! Sayonara...Shadow the Hedgehog." She finished, she barely managed to press the button before she collapsed on the floor, her blood leaking out through her dress.  
"MMAAARRRIIIAAAA!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. She...was dead. I was just floating in space, in my capsule..rolled up in a ball. Crying my eyes out,  
I couldn't believe what happened. I eventually floated down to Earth..in days? Hours?  
I couldn't keep track of time, it all happened so fast...First the Prof. was protesting,  
then it lead to us being chased, now Maria dead, and me drifting in the middle of nowhere.  
I felt incomplete, like there was an empty space in my heart. An empty space that ripped through me; made me hurt. Hurt so much that I didn't want to live anymore. Why did this happen? Does everybody hate me? Why was I created on this space colony? Couldn't I have been born on Earth, or better, not born at all?! Because I would rather die than feel this...pain. And the worst thing of all, I think her death was my fault. I hit myself on the head, each blow becoming progressively harder. "Stupid, Stupid, STUUPPIIDD!!" I yelled. It was my fault; I was guilty, all my fault. 'Everyone would be better off without me!' I thought. Then I was in orbit in the Earth's atmosphere. I then gradually drifted off into a top-secret base. Then G.U.N. suddenly surrounded me; I was in _their _base.  
They grabbed my arms and dragged me to a room with ultra-high security, and sealed me in a pod. I didn't fight back; I couldn't care less. "It's amazing how this evil creation isn't even fighting us," one of the nicer soldiers remarked. "It's like he doesn't care."  
"You're right." I said simply, astonishing the soldiers. "In fact, you could kill me if you'd like." They simply set the locks on my tube, and I watched them walk away.  
I then saw Prof. Gerald Robotnik, struggling in the arms of generals. "Let me go!" He screamed. Apparently, he had gone crazy, as he heard about the death of Maria. I wish I had gone crazy as well; I wouldn't feel as much pain and suffering. The Prof. then went even crazier, laughing maniacally. "Hahhaa! You could never find out what I have planned for you in the future! It will destroy you ALL!!" he yelled, the generals exchanging skeptical glances.  
"Rriight.." They all said, and dragged him along. "YOU'LL SEE! YOU'LL ALL TASTE MY REVENGE!!!" he screamed once more, before his ramblings were out of hearing range. He had lost everything that was his, too. And the things that we lost we both had in common. I sighed, and gas enveloped me. I prepeared for my final sleep; It was a short, but good life, at least the time that I spent with Maria; the fun, happy memories of our childhoods. So with my final breath, before it froze me,  
"I shall see you soon, Maria..." I said to no one in particular. I then fell into a deep sleep,  
maybe never to be awoken again... 


End file.
